Buffalo Rick Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 I listened to Ted Nolan on the Mike show in Buffalo just after I had been on the radio myself discussing the mess we are now in. As a fan since the birth of the Sabres in the NHL, I cannot ever remember a time like this. I do not know alot about this Murray guy but he has a ton of responsibility to the city of Buffalo and their fans. I had asked them how do we "tank" a season to try and land McDavid or one of those other two studs and at the same time keep fans coming to the games? Well, their answer was they are still coming and they do not believe season ticket sales will fall off significantly and so far they are correct. I guess it proves how good a hockey town Buffalo truly is. Fans are willing to wait until the talent is here. I just hope they do not use Ted and then show him the door once they do get the players. Lets face it, with the quality of picks they have, Murray has no excuse. He can use them to draft and trade some for free agent players that are established. He has a committed owner with deep pockets to back him up. I just hope the wait is not too long. The announcers did say, they want to win a Cup. They do not want to just go out and get the free agents that will assure us of a low seed in the playoffs. I agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 @Hockey Junkie Nolan is an excellent coach to have for a total rebuild. He's a players coach and great with young guys. As much as it sucks to be bad, Buffalo is doing it right. And they're doing it at the right time. Even if they don't win the McDavid lottery next year they'll get Eichel, who is a great player in his own right. It might take a few years, but you guys already have some excellent prospects on D with a shot at Ekblad this year. I think it's exciting times to be a Sabres fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Rick Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 @Hockey Junkie Nolan is an excellent coach to have for a total rebuild. He's a players coach and great with young guys. As much as it sucks to be bad, Buffalo is doing it right. And they're doing it at the right time. Even if they don't win the McDavid lottery next year they'll get Eichel, who is a great player in his own right. It might take a few years, but you guys already have some excellent prospects on D with a shot at Ekblad this year. I think it's exciting times to be a Sabres fan.Not me. I think its sucks. And you got a taste of how good Miller is. Miller is gone. You do not get goalies like him very often Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blocker Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 FC is, as usual, dead on. Nolan is the right guy at the right time. And, Sabres are not trading their future away in order to draw fans today. I dunno what's going to happen down the road, but seems to me that Sabres are dealing with reality in a rationable way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Rick Posted April 6, 2014 Author Share Posted April 6, 2014 FC is, as usual, dead on. Nolan is the right guy at the right time. And, Sabres are not trading their future away in order to draw fans today. I dunno what's going to happen down the road, but seems to me that Sabres are dealing with reality in a rationable @Hockey Junkie Nolan is an excellent coach to have for a total rebuild. He's a players coach and great with young guys. As much as it sucks to be bad, Buffalo is doing it right. And they're doing it at the right time. Even if they don't win the McDavid lottery next year they'll get Eichel, who is a great player in his own right. It might take a few years, but you guys already have some excellent prospects on D with a shot at Ekblad this year. I think it's exciting times to be a Sabres fan.There has been some criticism cast at Nolan, unfairly in my opinion, that he is not a good X's and O's type coach? That is just plain stupid. Did those people see the play he drew up against the mighty Canadian team that they almost beat? Team Latvia may not be as good as the AHL all stars? But he almost pulled off another miracle on ice and probably increased beer sales in Canada for a week by double. And many bottles of that stuff that removes gray hair. I think Ted is a guy that was wronged back in 97. I certainly do love Lindy Ruff and always will. He did not make the decision. If Nolan does his job well, I hope he gets his shot when they do get the new young talent that will be coming . I have little doubt about that because Murray has a ton of draft picks to work with. I do not like being in a position to have to "tank" a season to land one of these 3 monsters that will be available next year led by McDavid. But that is the road they have chosen. When they traded Vanek and Moulson that was the final straw. There is a part of me that is hoping that this summer will see an effort to bring Thomas back? Very unlikely but I do not think its impossible. But that is dependent on the contract offers thrown at him and some other former Sabres I would love to have return. Even Miller is not committed beyond the summer. So I hope Ted makes the most of this. Right now, he is David trying to sleigh Goliath. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 @Hockey Junkie With the talent they are giving him to worjk with, all they can expect from Nolan is that his team is prepared and ready to play each night. They can't expect him to work miracles. Trading Vanek and then Moulson gives them a better shot at getting impact players over the next few drafts. It's one step backwards for two steps forward. It may seem like it sucks right now, but I'd bet you'll be pretty excited about your team in a few years....I mean more than usual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Rick Posted April 10, 2014 Author Share Posted April 10, 2014 @Hockey Junkie With the talent they are giving him to worjk with, all they can expect from Nolan is that his team is prepared and ready to play each night. They can't expect him to work miracles. Trading Vanek and then Moulson gives them a better shot at getting impact players over the next few drafts. It's one step backwards for two steps forward. It may seem like it sucks right now, but I'd bet you'll be pretty excited about your team in a few years....I mean more than usual.I will let you know when I see what Murray does. We need a stellar goalie. I say pursue Elliot if Miller signs. If they do not win the Cup, I wonder if they will blame Miller and not sign him? We would take him back no doubt. Time will tell. Assuming he is finished here, I make a new goalie a top priority in the draft. We have always had magic at finding great goalies. Maybe we need to lose bad another year to land one of these big fish? But do we need to be worse than Edmonton, Florida and Calgary? It would not take much work to pass them. Oh, and lets not forget the Islanders who now must hate us for the Vanek fiasco. Boy did they get screwed on that deal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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